While debates over illegal workers, border controls, employer sanctions,
access to services, amnesty, temporary workers, and the like have persisted at
least since the formation of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee
Policy in 1979, the positions taken by advocates and the policies
proposed by politicians have recently become more contentious and extreme.

In the coming months, reconciling divergent views in the House and Senate on
these issues in legislation will be difficult, if not impossible. The Bush
administration's Border Security Initiative would deploy new military
technologies, 370 miles of fence, 6,000 National Guard, and 15,000 new Border
Patrol officers. While many Senators insist on amnesty-like "pathways to
citizenship" for most of the estimated 11-12 million undocumented immigrants,
the majority in the House would block access to permanent residency and impose
felony charges for illegal entry. Up for renewed scrutiny are restrictions on
immigrants' access to health, education, and social services, and high-tech
identification cards for all Americans. And more.

In unprecedented public response, hundreds of thousands of undocumented and
legal immigrants have joined protest marches in cities across the country,
culminating in the May 1st "Day without Immigrants." Private militias are
patrolling the border to make up for federal, state, and local governments'
"chaotic neglect" of border enforcement. And in national newspaper ads the
Mexican government is claiming "shared responsibility" for U.S. policies and is
publicly protesting to President Bush about his plans.

What sense can be made of the forces that are driving these conflicting
stances and tumultuous activities? In “Border Battles: U.S. Immigration
Debates” you can find original insights from social scientists on the key
underlying issues.

Read the newest contribution from Alejandro Portes, entitled "The
Fence to Nowhere." Thanks to The American Prospect for allowing us to
offer this piece here.